Conner Coffin, the stylish former Championship Tour surfer from Santa Barbara, recently wandered into a random restaurant outside of Seoul, South Korea.
He was alone; he was there to sample Wavegarden’s biggest synthetic surf pool in Asia, but his crew had yet to arrive. So, he explored. And then, something strange happened – one of those “small world” coincidences that occasionally happen whilst abroad.
Two dudes sitting at a table nearby recognized Coffin.
Over food and drinks, the trio of strangers talked. One of them, Joonhee “Juni” Cho, had watched Coffin compete on the Gold Coast years earlier. Juni himself, as Conner learned, had surfing dreams of his own. Big dreams. Dreams of surfing Nazaré, the first Korean to do so. He even had a one-way ticket to Portugal already booked.
So, after a series of DMs, we got ahold of Juni; we learned about how he started surfing at 19, served in the South Korean military, and went through an emotionally traumatic experience, which found him standing atop an eight-story building and contemplating stepping off the ledge. But he didn’t. He decided he wanted to live, really live. Instead of plunging himself off an eight-story building, he wanted to surf an eight-story wave.
Hence the trip to Nazaré.
We got Juni on FaceTime from his apartment outside Seoul, just days away from his flight to Portugal; we chatted for close to an hour, hearing about his story, learning about South Korean surf culture, and the crazy path that led him to chase big waves.
Hey Juni, where are you right now?
Near Seoul. I’m in Siehung. The Wave Park is here, and this is where I met Conner. It’s like 8:00am here, so good morning!
Where are you from?
I’m from South Korea, but I was born in France. My dad works for the country…what’s the word…diplomacy. So, I could’ve got a French passport, which would’ve meant I wouldn’t have to do military service, but my parents didn’t tell me about it for some reason. [Laughs.]
When I was four or five years old, I came to Korea. Then I grew up here. I lived near Seoul, which has no waves. But when I turned 19 years old, I moved to the east coast.
When did you start surfing?
In 2013, when I was 19 years old.
You had to serve in the military, right? What was that like?
I served for the Marine Corps in Korea. I was like 100 km to our mainland, and like three km to North Korea. You couldn’t surf because there were bombs in the water. If you tried to surf, you would need to check for bombs. It’s like a landmine but in the ocean. They float down from North Korea because of the current.
We had a job that was like landmine operations. So, in July, we would look for these bombs, because in August, we open the beaches. So, then I surfed like three times in August. I served for 18 months, and I just retired in September. I’m 28 years old.
How was that encounter with Conner Coffin?
It was crazy. It’s Korea, man. And that’s a ghost town. I was eating dinner with my friends and there was nobody there. It’s not usual to see a western guy. And when I saw him, I knew who he was. Like 100%. I love his surfing.
I asked him why he was here. And I saw he was struggling with ordering food, so I asked him if he wanted to eat dinner together. And we ate, and talked, and shared stories.
What makes you wanna surf big waves?
Last August, I had a hard time personally. I felt like my life was meaningless. I was having relationship problems and I couldn’t surf. So, I had a five-day holiday, and the hotel was an eight-story building. And I just cried for 72 hours. I stood up on the building and thinking bad stuff. And while I was standing there, I remembered some documentary I saw about Nazaré. They said the waves are like eight stories.
So, I thought, ‘shit…I’m too young to die.’
I also thought, ‘why should I die here on this building? Why not die surfing Nazaré?’ At least give it a try before I die.
My dream kinda changed. Instead of dying here at this hotel, I wanted to live as best as I could at Nazaré. It was a life-changing moment for me.
You’ve got a one-way ticket to Nazaré. What do you hope to achieve?
I have no money. And you need money to surf Nazaré. I hope I can find some good guys and they can help me out. I know it’s taking on a big risk for them to help out a random Korean guy. But maybe I can help them in return. Maybe I can get one chance. I just want one chance.
Are you scared?
Yeah, I’m scared. But this is my second chance at life. I feel like I was born again, and I can chase my dream now. My mentality now is – I might die tomorrow, but I’m going to live to the fullest today.
What’s the wavepool in South Korea like?
You go there, and you have your best surfing day of the year. It’s really cool. I think it’s the biggest one, maybe the biggest Wavegarden in Asia or something like that. The waves are so, so fun. It’s perfect.
How are the ocean waves there?
It gets really good. We have really good spots. There’s the west coast, east coast, and south coast. It’s mostly beachbreaks. We get swells that come down from the northeast. And there’s plenty of spots. But you need some wetsuits; it gets pretty cold.
What’s South Korean surf culture like?
It’s people like me, people who start surfing late. We usually start surfing in our twenties or thirties or even forties. It’s because we have to study a lot when we’re teenagers. Then maybe you don’t have money. So, we start surfing later than most people in the world. I talked with one professional surfer – I forget who it was – and they said, ‘I don’t remember my first surf session.’ For me, I remember my first session, my first wave, that feeling.
Are you gonna paddle or tow Nazaré?
I wanna do both. My shaper designed a gun for me, and I’m ordering a tow board from a local shaper [in Nazaré].
When you’re finally scrapping into that wave, or letting go of the rope, for the first time, what’s going to be going through your head?
I don’t wanna die. [Laughs.] Not on the first wave. I think my first wave at Nazaré is going to feel like the first wave of my life. I think I’ll get that same feeling, the feeling you get when you first start surfing. This also has been a big dream of mine, so I think I’ll feel very accomplished. I just hope it all goes well. [Laughs.]
What’s the future of Korean surfing?
We have really good kids coming up, and if they can get proper coaching and utilize the Wave Park, then the future is looking good. I think they should have big dreams, and they have a promising future. As a culture, Koreans work really hard. I hope that my Nazaré goal inspires them; I hope it shows them that I’m not giving up.
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